The ‘big house’ in Ireland has had a chequered history. Right across the country the skeletons of once-proud houses stand silhouetted against the skyline, their glory days long gone, their only company the crows.

This too could have been the fate of Doneraile Court as it was for Bowen’s Court, home of the author Elizabeth Bowen.

Both houses are located just a few miles apart in north Cork, both are similar in design and were owner-occupied up to the second half of the 20th Century.

Now, Bowen’s Court is in ruins while Doneraile Court attracts almost 500,000 visitors a year.

Up to June this year, visitors came to walk in the 410 acres of magnificent parkland that was laid out in the style of Capability Brown, the famous landscape designer.

Now there is the added attraction of being able to visit the house itself.

Indeed, it is hoped visitor numbers will double over the next five to seven years as, after decades of decline, Doneraile Court has emerged back into the light as the gracious house it was for several hundred years.

Credit where credit is due

A great deal of the credit for this regeneration goes to the Irish Georgian Society whose early intervention secured the roof of Doneraile Court and whose voluntary work on its interior, especially the ornate coving, kept the house alive.

Huge credit too should be given to the Office of Public Works (OPW), which has invested €1.6m in a major renovation and restoration of the house

Filling such a large house with paintings, furniture and decorative items to reflect its era, locality and region was no easy task.

The contents had been sold by auction in 1969 and amazingly six substantial items original to the house have been returned by donors.

Far from being sparsely furnished the house is packed with china, figurines, paintings and furniture reflecting how the house would have looked in its heyday.

Most of the items were sourced from the OPW collection, with the Irish Georgian Society and private donors loaning selected items.

In addition, 11 paintings are on loan from the Crawford Art Gallery.

The attention to detail even extended to taking scrapings of the paint in each room so as to accurately match what was there in the past.

An influential family

The saving grace of Doneraile Court was that it was home to 13 generations of the St Leger family.

They had continuous occupancy of the house and lands from 1630-1969 when it was sold to the Land Commission.

The house then passed to the care of the Irish Georgian Society before coming into the stewardship of the OPW in 1994.

The St Leger’s weren’t your ordinary big-estate owners. The first viscount was appointed Lord High President of Munster by the Duke of Buckingham who was “a favourite” of King James I and King Charles I.

St Leger was Buckingham’s man on the ground in Munster. He was the man to be lobbied if you wanted something done.

That power accounts for the impressive houses that line the fine main street of Doneraile and the 20 grand houses and estates that are scattered around the locality.

So sophisticated

Records show that in the early 19th century over 250 people were employed on the estate. Many were involved in building roads and producing food.

There were specialist beef butchers and specialist lamb butchers on the main street. The locally available tailoring, needlework and dressmaking skills were renowned far and wide.

All the local big houses were serviced by Doneraile and in the 19th century it was considered to be so sophisticated, it was likened to Oxford Street in London.

There was a significant connection with Kew Gardens and the demesne was producing pineapples in the 18th century and bananas in the 19th.

By the end of that century it was supplying the Dublin market with fruit and vegetables, with fresh produce travelling by train from Buttevant, only four miles away.

Slow decline

It was in the years between the wars that things began to change. In 1890 the estate employed 25 full-time gardeners and by 1930 that figure was down to just five part-timers.

The estate lost its power as the engine of economic growth for Doneraile and the surrounding area.

The last viscount was a sheep farmer who arrived from New Zealand in the early 1940s and farmed the lands until his death in 1956. After that, the place went into trusteeship. The last of the direct line to occupy Doneraile Court were Lord and Lady Castletown, the latter being a daughter of the house.

They were a progressive couple who wanted to develop the demesne and Doneraile. Lord Castletown was interested in the Gaelic Revival and was a good friend of the late Canon Hayes who also lived in Doneraile.

Plans for the future

The Land Commission bought the property in 1969 and the Irish Georgian Society took a lease on the house from the mid 1970s until the late 1990s.

With voluntary teams, they did much to refurbish it. The State and OPW then gradually completed further refurbishment with the pace of work gathering speed over the past few years.

Now after a spend of €1.6m, six rooms in all their splendour are open to the public. By next year it is hoped the first floor will be opened and a lift installed.

Gardens

The longevity of the St Leger family in Doneraile also left its mark on the landscape. This is obvious throughout the 410 acres of parkland.

Here vistas radiating from the house cut into the landscape.

Colin Jones is the estate manager. “The walled gardens date from the Elizabethan, Georgian and Victorian eras and that’s quite unique, not just in Ireland but in the UK too. Generally, these got swept away as houses were extended or demolished.

“The walls are in good condition but we want to have it all researched before putting a shovel into the ground.

"We would hope to begin work in the box parterre garden which dates back to the 1800s.”

All good news

This is all good news for the locality according to Michael O’Sullivan of the Doneraile Development Association.

It’s heavily involved in promoting Doneraile, the house, gardens and parkland.

“In 2012, we had 60,000 visitors, now it’s heading towards 500,000 and it is one of the top-seven free visitor sites in the country.

"Already, increasing numbers have led to the opening of new outlets on the main street.”

“Should visitor numbers break the magical 1,000,000 mark then we believe Doneraile Court will once again become an economic driver of the locality,” he says.

Entry to the demesne is free as is parking. The entry fee for the house is €8 for adults, €6 for seniors. Children under 12 are free. Volunteer-led tours of the gardens take place monthly. Email donerailepark@opw.ie or call 022-24771 for more